Raiders and Rebels

Most of the eleven Americans hanged in Kingston for their roles in the Battle of the Windmill were buried there. The British gave friends of Dorephus Abbey permission to ship his body to the Brookside Cemetery in Watertown, New York. The British denied Nils von Schoultz’s last wish that his body be shipped to Syracuse.

In early May 2019, I signed a publishing agreement with a US publisher, Beacon Publish Group. They agreed to publish my biography of “Pirate” Bill Johnston. I don’t have a release date yet, but will let you Bill Johnston fans know.

The working title is:

Chieftain of the Thousand Islands
The Life and Legend of Bill Johnston

I began researching Johnston in 1973—not to say I worked on it every year since. I have been active in building up my info since 2010.

The contents of the book go far beyond the material on this blog. It provides detailed evidence of his spying and scouting work for the Americans in the War of 1812. It expands on the circumstances of his arrest in 1813. There are more stories about his "quiet" years between 1814 and 1838, and more about his long retirement years.

The contents show where other historians have gone wrong, why they are wrong and how they made their mistakes.

The forces that shaped the Upper Canada rebellion in the Western District often affected whole families. The best example is the Malcolm clan, which spawned 13 rebels spread across two generations. Despite two being sentenced for treason and two having rewards on their heads, all survived with great stories to tell.

During the Patriot War, few of the US-based civilian armies that amassed to attack Upper Canada had the luxury of a competent leader or posed any real threat to that British colony. The principal exception was Henry S. Handy and the regiments he formed and armed in 1838.